


Lean On Me

by Louise_panda_Belcher



Series: There would be history [9]
Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: Emotional Conversation, Eva's a soft drunk, Gen, and all cars are trucks, and if she had another car it would also be a truck, because she's southern, drunk shennanigans, friendship building, ice cream trip!!!!, juliana has a truck, light teasing, protective juliana, tiniest bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22601809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louise_panda_Belcher/pseuds/Louise_panda_Belcher
Summary: The drunken adventure of Eva and her sister's protective girlfriend that set them off on a path to friendship.
Relationships: Eva Carvajal & Juliana Valdés, Valentina Carvajal/Juliana Valdés
Series: There would be history [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583356
Comments: 14
Kudos: 89





	Lean On Me

**Author's Note:**

> slight TW: there is some talk about a miscarriage.
> 
> remember when I said angst wasn't something you'd get from me? Well, I might've lied, but it isn't too heavy, I don't think.
> 
> this is the longest work I've written so far and it is one of my favorites, emotionally. let me know what you think about it.

The moonlight streamed in softly through the closed curtains, casting shadows over the bedroom floor. On the bed, Juliana was sleeping curled under a mountain of blankets. After a stressful day of work, she really needed to get some sleep. It also didn’t help that she and Valentina had been so busy with work lately that they’d barely had any time to see each other, only being able to steal a few minutes over phone calls and texts. So, she’d gone straight home after work, regretfully refusing her invitations from her co-workers to go out for drinks.

She’d already been asleep for a few hours when a loud ringing startled her out of her dreams. She shot up in her bed blinking her eyes rapidly, trying to adjust to the dim lighting. On her bedside table, her phone was lighting up with the incoming call and she rushed to reach it. The instant she saw the caller ID she felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over her because _why the fuck is Eva Carvajal calling her in the middle of the night?_ With shaking fingers, she accepted the call and brought the phone up to her ear trying to prepare herself for the worst possible news.

“ _Heeeey,_ ” she heard from the other end. She could hear the loud pounding of music in the background and she had to look at her phone again just to make sure the call was indeed from her girlfriend’s always stoic sister. Seeing that it was indeed Eva on the line she brought the device back to her ear. “ _Shut up, I’m on the phone!_ ” she assumed that Eva was talking to whoever was having a rather loud argument close by. “ _Where are you? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago._ ” Her words were slow but still held a firm tone that Valentina would say is her ‘business voice’.

“Eva why are you calling me at,” she glanced at the clock on her bedside table, “three in the morning?” she asked, her voice still gravelly from sleep.

“ _Who is this? You’re not Jonathan, are you?_ ” Now that Eva was no longer using her ‘business voice’ Juliana could tell just how slurred the other woman’s speech was. She laughed silently to herself. Eva Carvajal, the queen of ice, who’d given her the cold shoulder the instant she met her, was now drunk dialing her. It was unbelievable, but then she froze as she realized what was likely happening.

“Eva,” she started carefully. “Who is Jonathan?” she crossed her fingers hoping that this wasn’t what she was thinking.

“ _The Uber driver I called, duh,_ ” she answered as if it were supposed to be obvious. Juliana released a deep breath and slumped back into her pillows, but she was sitting up again when she heard her next words. “ _But he hasn’t shown up and my friends left already, so I guess I’ll just walk home,_ ” she said with finality.

“No!” Juliana shouted as she scrambled out of bed, pulling on some jeans and slipping into a sweatshirt. “Where are you?”

“ _The Red Circle, it’s… I don’t remember where it is,_ ” she giggled, and Juliana rolled her eyes. Of course, Eva would get black out drunk and call her on accident. And obviously, Juliana would take on the responsibility of making sure she made it back home. Because, if Eva disappeared, she certainly couldn’t explain to Valentina that the reason her older sister disappeared was because she didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night for someone who doesn’t like her. So, that wasn’t an option, which meant that she had to rush out of her apartment and scour the city for a drunken Eva.

“Don’t worry, stay where you are, I’m on my way,” she said quickly, slipping on her shoes. A few moments later, the call was disconnected, and Juliana was looking up the club Eva mentioned as she rode the elevator down. As soon as she was in her truck, she set her phone to guide her to the club’s address.

\---

The streets were crowded with clusters of drunken men and women trying to make their way to their cars. Juliana pulled up as close to the club as she could and then slipped out of her car and started searching the throngs of people walking about. She had barely made it to the club’s entrance when she felt arms wrapping around her neck from behind and she had to reach her hands out to not be toppled over. “ _Julianaaaa,_ ” Eva slurred.

Juliana separated Eva’s hands and turned around to face her. The woman’s lipstick was nearly gone, and her eyes were hazy and unfocused. “Come on, let’s go,” she said trying to guide the woman towards her truck, but she wouldn’t budge.

“Nooo, I don’t wanna go,” Eva whined, a pout on her lips. Juliana pursed her lips and clenched her jaw because that was the cutest shit she’d ever seen, goddamnit! Juliana had fallen victim to Valentina’s potent puppy dog eyes and pout but looking at Eva right now, she had to wonder if Valentina had learned that skill from her sister or if all the Carvajal children were gifted with this natural ability. She truly hoped that she never had all three of them pouting at her like this, or in front of anyone really, she was sure they could topple nations with those sad, colored eyes.

She clenched her fist trying to remain strong while she breathed in and out. “No,” she said, trying to be stern. “We have to go. The club is closing, and we need to get you home.”

“I don’t wanna!” Eva shouted and pulled her arm out of Juliana’s grasp. They stood there arguing in front of the crowd until a bouncer walked over to them telling them to shut it or leave.

A sudden idea stuck Juliana and she stepped closer to Eva. “Do you want ice cream?” she asked conspiratorially. The excited smile and mischievous glint in green eyes let her know that she’d won, for now. Juliana carefully guided them towards her truck and opened the door for Eva and helped her climb up. Just as she was about to close the door Eva’s arm stopped her. Almost as if in slow motion, Juliana watched as Eva leaned out of her seat and threw up over her shoes, some bits falling on her jeans. She screamed internally but tried to remain calm and just helped the other woman buckle in before closing the door.

Before climbing into the driver’s seat, she looked in the back seat looking for a pair of shoes that she might have left in there. She only found a pair of boots she’d thrown in there a while ago. She took off her shoes and threw them into the bed of the truck, put on her boots and climbed in behind the wheel. Pulling away from the curb, she noticed the light sniffling coming from the passenger seat and saw that Eva was wiping at her face.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Why are you crying?”

“We’re not getting ice cream anymore, are we?” Eva asked, her voice small and broken. Juliana clenched jaw again because right now, Eva sounded so much like Valentina when she didn’t get her way. She supposed it made sense that they were so similar since, from what Valentina shared with her, Eva had taken on the parental role after their mother passed. It made perfect sense that Valentina would grow up and learn to mirror Eva’s behavior if she was the person most present in her life after their dad started being less present. It broke her heart to think about the amount of pressure Eva must have felt at having to grow up so much when she herself was still a child.

It was a side of her that Juliana had never given much thought to. Sure, the other woman was over protective and demanding and tried to grasp onto any sense of control she could, but Juliana could also see how it would be the only way Eva learned to cope. She was still coping. Valentina had been sent away in an attempt to help her get through her mother’s passing, Guille found solace in the book their father’s friend wrote, but as far as Juliana knew, Eva had never been given the opportunity to grieve, to fully accept, process and move on.

The way she’d so easily started crying was just a small sign telling her that there was more to Eva besides the cold exterior she presented. In that moment she swore that she would try to get to know the woman as more than her girlfriend’s sister and would try to know her as her own person. But hopefully when she was more sober and not looking like she was seconds away from spilling the contents of her stomach again.

“We’re still going to get ice cream,” she answered quietly, her eyes focused on the road.

“Really!?” Eva asked excitedly. She lunged at Juliana and wrapped her arms around her. “You’re the best!” Juliana gently pushed her off and made sure she was secure in her seat.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” she asked

“Because I… you know,” Eva said vaguely motioning towards Juliana’s shoes.

“They’re just shoes,” she replies simply.

After a moment, Eva seemed to move past her upset moment and turned the music up and started singing along. Loudly. Juliana rolled her eyes as the other woman pointed and danced along with the songs occasionally joining in whenever Eva poked her to do so. Eventually, Juliana pulled into a gas station parking lot.

“Wait here,” she said as she climbed out. She was just about to enter the small shop when she heard a door closing and she found Eva stumbling out of the truck and she rushed over to her side. “I told you to wait here,” she chastised as she pulled the door open again.

“No,” Eva whined and stomped her foot like a petulant child. Juliana fought hard to keep in the laugh that wanted to bubble out at the outburst. “You can’t leave me outside,” she slurred. “It’s dark outside,” she whispered as if it were a secret just between the two.

Juliana looked around them. They were the only people in the parking lot and the likelihood of anyone else pulling up was minimal. “I’ll only be a minute. Just wait in the truck and then you can eat your ice cream as we get you home,” she tried. Eva pouted at her, her eyes twinkling with unshed tears. “Fine,” she groaned. In an instant Eva was smiling, no sign of the tears that had been there before. Juliana cursed whatever deities existed for making her so weak when it came to the Carvajal sisters.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the store Eva took off towards the snack aisle and Juliana watched as she stumbled on her way. She shook her head to herself and made her way towards where she thought the ice cream was. It took several minutes for her to decide that she would just get a few pints and that she’d let Eva pick from whatever choices she had. She turned around trying to find the other woman, but she felt panic rising when she wasn’t able to immediately spot her.

She started at a quick pace, looking into every aisle trying to find the woman she had made herself in charge of getting home safely. She’d almost completely lost hope of finding her when she made it to the final aisle in the store. Eva was kneeling on the floor looking very intensely at a stuffed lion, her shoulders dropped and felt relief wash over her the instant she found her. It wasn’t until she was a few feet away that she realized what was happening. Eva was having a full-blown conversation with the stuffed animal and Juliana couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out. She discreetly pulled out her phone and started recording.

“What are you laughing at?” Eva asked seriously, her brow raised in defiance. Juliana instantly sobered up, pulling her phone in close to her torso and tried to force her laughter down, but a smile remained firmly in place.

“Um… what are you doing?” she asked with as level a voice as she could muster.

Eva gasped in surprise. “You didn’t hear him?” Juliana shook her head in the negative, her lips pressed tightly together to keep herself from laughing. “He said my hair is fake!” she half shouted, outraged.

She couldn’t take it. She tried. She really did, but this was too hilarious. Juliana’s laughter broke the blanket of silence that covered the entire store. Eva glared at her from her position on the floor and it only served to encourage Juliana’s laughter.

“It’s not true!” Eva said loudly. Juliana kept laughing, her shoulders shook with every breath she took. Eva stood up taking the lion from its place and holding it up. “Tell him it’s not true,” she demanded. Tears were streaming down Juliana’s face and she wiped at them with her free hand. “Tell him,” Eva demanded again. Her eyes were stern, her brow furrowed in an angry pout. Juliana could just barely notice that real tears were forming behind stormy green eyes and she immediately stopped laughing.

Juliana looked down at the lion in Eva’s hands them back at Eva and found her looking back with an expectant gaze. She swallowed and focused her gaze on the lion’s fake green eyes. “What you said is not nice,” she started, looking up at Eva only to find that her gaze hadn’t changed. “And it isn’t true. Her hair is not fake,” she finished. Eva turned the lion to face her. The “Ha!” she shouted in its face was nearly enough to cause Juliana to laugh again but she refrained.

“Is there anything else you want?” Juliana asked as she motioned to the other aisles. Eva shook her head and they moved to the cashier. As they were waiting to be rung up a tall man walked in, but Juliana paid him no mind, she was more focused on making sure that Eva didn’t try to steal any of the candy bars that were lined up just in front of them. She suddenly felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on edge.

“Hello, sweetheart,” the man from before said as he stepped up behind Eva. His voice was deep and gravelly, his eyes ran over her body lecherously and Juliana felt a surge of protectiveness rise in her chest. Eva was oblivious to the interaction; she was more focused on trying to find the difference between the Right Twix and Left Twix. “I said, hello, sweetheart.” The man repeated, stepping closer.

Juliana put herself between them, her gaze focused on the cashier ringing them up. She quickly paid and tapped Eva on her shoulder. Eva turned to look up at her and nodded, understanding that they were leaving now. The man stepped up to them blocking the exit with his body. Juliana tried to sidestep him, but he moved quickly, reaching his hand out and pulling the door closed. She turned to look at him and glared at him with the iciest look she could muster but it didn’t seem to deter him.

“Why don’t you come with me, darlin’.” The way he said it was more of a statement and Juliana reached behind her to hold onto Eva’s wrist. His gaze was glued to Eva and Juliana could feel that the other woman had gone completely still.

“She doesn’t want to go with you,” Juliana answered. She gently tugged Eva closer and was relieved when the woman stumbled over to stand behind her and further away from the man.

“I wasn’t asking you,” he sneered.

“I don’t want to go with you,” Eva said trying as hard as she could to not slur her words.

The man leaned forward, his arm stretching out to grab at Eva, but Juliana was quicker. She grabbed his hand and twisted it as she pulled him forward to then twist his arm behind his back. He cried out in pain, shouting expletives, but Juliana ignored him. She quickly handed off the bag with their ice cream to Eva along with her keys, telling her to get in the truck. The man kept struggling against her hold, but she wouldn’t let up until she saw Eva climb into the truck and shut the door.

“When a girl tells you she doesn’t want to go with you, that isn’t an invitation to force her,” Juliana growled into the man’s ear. She pushed him forward and let go of his arm, not sticking around to watch him stumble into a snack rack. As soon as she was back in the truck she looked over and found Eva silently sobbing and she reached out to touch her arm gently. “It’s ok, it’s over,” she said softly.

“H-he w-would’ve…” Eva tried to speak but every time she tried, she broke into tears again. Juliana looked over at her with sad eyes. She wanted to do something, offer something that would make the girl feel better, but she didn’t know what. All she could do was start the truck and drive until her tears subsided. They were far enough from the gas station when Eva was finally able to speak. “Thank you,” she said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

“There’s no need,” Juliana answered.

“Yes, there is!” Eva startled Juliana with the rise in her voice. “I’ve been nothing but mean and rude towards you and you still helped me.” Juliana could tell that much of the alcohol in Eva’s system was slowly wearing off, but it also could have been the encounter that shook her out of her drunken haze. “I’m not just talking about back there,” she said pointing back in the direction they’d come from. “I’m talking about picking me up, too.” Juliana didn’t respond at that. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Eva broke the silence again. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Juliana gripped the steering wheel tightly before relaxing her hold. She didn’t know how to answer that. Sure, she helped because Eva was Valentina’s sister, and that was the primary reason she’d helped but there was also a part of her that wanted to get on Eva’s good side. She wanted to prove that she was good enough for Valentina, and who better to prove that to than the one person who was posing a challenge to their relationship. Eva tried breaking them up almost as soon as they’d started dating, but Juliana stuck around, not letting her threats get to her and if Valentina wanted to stand up against her sister, then she wouldn’t back down either.

And she hadn’t. She never backed down when Eva challenged her, she stood her ground, often stepping between her and Valentina to keep them from arguing; she also had to thank Mateo for helping her keep the peace. When Eva realized that Juliana wasn’t going to step back or disappear, she turned indifferent and cold, but the mean barbs stopped even though Juliana could always feel her glare burning in her back.

So, she didn’t know how to answer that question at all. But she had to answer it and she really doubted that Eva would remember any of this anyway, so she decided to be honest. “You’re Valentina’s sister,” she said flatly. She could feel the woman’s gaze on her, and she continued. “I want to prove to you that I’m good enough for her. I know that you’re overprotective because you care, and I want you to know that I’m going to take care of Valentina with my life.”

“I just don’t want her to get hurt,” Eva said, turning her gaze back to the road. “You weren’t there after mom died. She was so broken, and I tried to do my best for her, but she was so lost after that. Valentina loves with her whole heart and she completely gives herself over, and I just don’t want her to give her everything to someone who is just going to hurt her.”

Juliana felt warmth at how much Eva truly cared. “I promise that I’ll never do anything to hurt her. I’m in this for the long run,” she swore. Eva nodded, accepting her response. “And I know what you mean about wanting to protect her,” she looked over to the other woman. “Sometimes, I want to wrap her in bubble wrap before she leaves.”

“I wish there were bubble wrap for her heart,” Eva commented and they both fell into a fit of giggles.

\---

“Ok, which one’s yours?” Juliana asked as she drove into Eva’s neighborhood. She’d never actually been to Eva’s house, but Valentina had once vaguely told her what neighborhood she lived in. There was silence. She looked over to Eva and found her asleep, forehead against the glass and her mouth slightly open. She pulled over on the side of the street and closed her eyes. She rested her head against the steering wheel and peeled one eye open, looking at the clock, it read 4:15 and she groaned, closing her eyes again.’’

She tried lightly shaking the other woman, but she wouldn’t budge. She didn’t even have Mateo’s number to call him and ask where she should take the sleeping woman. She fell back into her seat, rolling her head to face Eva and let out a deep breath. “Please don’t kill me in my sleep,” she said jokingly, but deep down there was that small voice telling her that if Eva didn’t remember what happened her life might be in danger. Even if it was just metaphorically.

When she pulled into her parking spot, she looked over at the woman next to her and groaned, she was still completely knocked out. She climbed out and walked over to Eva’s side and opened the door. She took the bag from her hands and carefully guided the woman down. “What’s happening?” Eva asked drowsily, her eyes were still closed but she was at least able to mostly stand on her own if she was leaning against something.

“I’m taking you home,” Juliana said lifting the woman’s arm and wrapping it around her neck as she wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I don’t want to go home!” Eva shouted, a pout on her lips and her eyes forcing themselves to open slightly.

“Eva, Eva please,” Juliana begged, stepping over to her again and trying to get a hold of her again. “I’m not taking you to your home, we’re going to mine,” she said, hoping that would soothe the woman. Luckily, that was enough for Eva to let herself be guided towards the elevator.

The entire ride up, Juliana struggled to keep the woman from pushing the buttons for every single floor. Taking care of Eva in this state was like taking care of a toddler and it made her question whether she ever wanted kids of her own. Then she started thinking about Valentina holding a little girl or boy who had bright blue eyes and light brown hair, and she immediately had to get those thoughts out of her head. They hadn’t even been dating for that long! But she couldn’t deny that that picture in her head didn’t make her as anxious as she thought it would. She was shaken out of her thoughts when she saw Eva reaching for the emergency button, maybe she didn’t want kids after all.

The walk down the hall to Juliana’s apartment was eventful. Eva tripped twice over her own feet and Juliana had to rush to help her back up both times. When she tried unlocking her door, Eva started a terrible rendition of ‘I Need a Hero’ at the top of her lungs and Juliana hoped her neighbors were so deep in their sleep that they couldn’t hear her. As soon as they were in her apartment, Eva slipped off her shoes and started stumbling through the small hallway. Juliana guided her to a chair in the kitchen while she put the ice cream in the freezer. When she turned around, Eva had her head on the table, asleep.

She pulled her up from the chair and carefully pulled her into her bedroom. She found a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and tried to help Eva into them. Again, it was like dealing with a toddler. The short nap seemed to re-energize Eva and she ran away from Juliana every time she tried to help her into the sweats. Eventually, Juliana gave up and just tried to get the energetic woman into her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillows, Eva was out like a light.

Juliana made her way back into the living room and groaned, the sun was already starting to rise, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep now. She quickly got a water bottle from the fridge and the bottle of aspirin from her medicine cabinet and placed it on the bedside table for Eva when she woke up. When that was done, she threw herself onto her couch and let out a heavy breath. She had no idea how she’d gotten into this situation and she just laughed at the absurdity of it all.

A few minutes later she stood up and made some coffee to hopefully keep her up long enough for Eva to sleep off her drunken night. She decided that if she wasn’t going to get any more sleep, she might as well get a head start on a project for work.

The sun was high up in the sky when she heard some stumbling coming from her bedroom. She set her laptop down on the coffee table and turned her body to face her bedroom, taking a sip of her coffee when Eva made her way into the open space. Eva raised her hand to block the sun from her squinting eyes. “What happened?” she asked, moving around the couch and taking a seat.

“So much,” Juliana said with a mirthful gaze. Eva groaned and Juliana laughed.

“Stop laughing so loudly,” Eva begged, her hands covering her ears.

“I’m sorry, but seriously, Eva?” Juliana asked, her laughter dying after a moment. “You called me at 3 AM thinking I was your Uber driver. When I went to pick you up, you threw up on me. We went to get ice cream, oh! And you got into a fight with a stuffed lion, but don’t worry I have video,” Juliana laughed again at Eva’s embarrassed groan. “Then, you nearly got us stuck in the elevator. And let me tell you, you are a very playful drunk.”

Eva buried her head in her hands. She felt Juliana stand up from the couch and returned moments later, placing something in front of her. When she looked up, she found a cup of coffee and she gladly took a sip. Memories from the night before started coming back to her and she felt herself stiffen at one particular memory. Her eyes turned to look over at Juliana who was looking down at her laptop.

“It happened, right?” Eva asked carefully, her eyes trained on the brown liquid in her mug. From the corner of her eye she saw Juliana set the laptop down and lean back into the cushions.

Juliana looked down at her hands. She knew exactly what Eva was referring to, she’d hoped that it was one of those memories that she wouldn’t remember but there was no such luck. “Yeah,” she answered, her voice strained.

Eva nodded sharply and took a shaky breath. The silence that settled between them now was heavy and deafening. It was a moment they both wished never happened, but it did and they both needed to take a moment to fully comprehend what happened. Juliana had been so focused on making sure Eva was okay that she hadn’t let herself think about how that situation could have gone so wrong if she hadn’t intervened, or even if the man had been able to break free. Eva had been too far gone to think about it much longer than the few minutes after it happened and now as she remembered it, it made her skin crawl and she wanted to erase it from her brain. She moved closer to Juliana and pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Juliana hugged back just as tightly and felt herself relax. “It’s alright. It’s over,” she said when they pulled back.

Eva nodded and stood up. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”

“No, go ahead. Second door on the right,” Juliana answered.

\---

Half an hour later Eva walked back into the living room drying her hair with a towel. Juliana looked over and gave her a short smile before turning back to her work. “Hey, I have a question,” she started. “And you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to, but why didn’t you want to go home last night?”

Eva fell onto the plush couch cushions and frowned. She looked straight out the window trying to gather her thoughts and Juliana waited patiently for her. “Mateo and I got into a fight,” she answered. Juliana could tell that her head was off somewhere far away, but she also figured that with Eva, it was better to just wait for her to get back on her own than to pull her back. Long minutes passed between them and Juliana had completely given up on getting any further explanation but then Eva started speaking again. “We didn’t tell anyone, but I was pregnant,” she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes.

Juliana felt her heart stop. Out of all the things she’d expected, that wasn’t even in the top 20. “Was?” she asked carefully.

Eva nodded, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. “About five months ago, I had a miscarriage.” Juliana handed her a tissue and she took it gratefully. “Ever since then, I haven’t let him touch me. He thinks I’m having an affair or something and yesterday seemed like it was the last straw for him. How could he think that!?” she shouted. “Just because… just because I don’t want to touch him, he thinks…” she trailed off and Juliana moved over and wrapped her in her arms.

Now she really didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend what Eva had gone through, what she and Mateo had gone through, and all of it on their own. Her heart ached for the pain that the woman had gone through, wishing there was something, anything she could do to ease whatever she’d been feeling. “He doesn’t know what it was like. I was alone and he just… he wasn’t there.”

“I’m sorry this happened to you. That you had to go through that by yourself,” Juliana offered softly. Eva pulled away and wiped at her eyes.

“The worst part is that he won’t even talk about it. A few days later he acted like everything was back to normal. He gave me space, but I wanted more, I wanted him to be supportive and to talk to me about it because it didn’t just happen to me. It happened to both of us and he won’t acknowledge it.”

Juliana watched as she continued to cry, wiping at her eyes and getting a new tissue every few minutes. “Have you talked to him about it?” she asked cautiously, trying not to upset the woman even more.

“I’ve tried starting a conversation, but he always shuts me down,” she answered, her sobs were slowly quieting. “I want us to go to therapy, but I don’t know how to tell him because every time I try, he just freezes and changes the subject.”

“Okay,” Juliana started, but she didn’t know what to say after that. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” she stood up and walked into the kitchen. “We’re going to eat some ice cream, and we’re going to figure out what to do, because you two need to talk and find a way to get through this together.” She walked back with two pints of ice cream and two spoons. She handed one of each to Eva and sat next to her.

“Phish Food? Really?” Eva asked with her brow raised.

Juliana put her hands up defensively. “Hey! You were very adamant about getting that on the way there. I just didn’t want you to bite my head off if I didn’t get it.” They ate in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the fact that there was no pressure to do anything other than just be, for a few minutes.

“I don’t know how to start,” Eva said after a bite.

“Give me your phone?” Juliana asked, her hand slightly outstretched. Eva looked at her confused but did as she was asked. “Well, unlock it first,” she chastised, handing it back. When it was back in her hands she started typing. Eva watched as her fingers flew quickly across the screen and after about a minute later Juliana was handing her back her phone.

When her eyes fell on the text that Juliana had drafted, her jaw went slack. “Juliana!” she screamed, dropping the phone onto the couch.

“What?” Juliana asked nonplussed. “I didn’t send it, I just typed it.”

“I can’t send that,” Eva stated, her voice was higher.

“Then don’t. But it’s a place to start,” Juliana responded. A few seconds later Eva’s phone started ringing and she picked it up. Juliana couldn’t hear who was on the phone or what they were saying, but from the look on Eva’s face, it was someone who she hadn’t been expecting and she couldn’t get a read on what the other woman was feeling.

Eva dropped her phone a few moments later, her face had gone pale and her mouth hung open and Juliana was anxious to hear what happened. “It was Mateo,” she said, almost in a trance. “He said he wants to talk.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Juliana asked cautiously.

“He read the text, Juliana.” Eva said flatly.

Juliana’s eyes widened in shock and she took a bite of her ice cream. “It worked, didn’t it?” she asked sheepishly. Eva threw a throw pillow at her head and she barely dodged out of its path.

“I have to go,” Eva said after a moment, standing up.

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Eva asked, gratefully.

“Not at all,” Juliana answered and followed after the other woman.

\---

“I didn’t know you had a truck,” Eva commented as they walked up to the deep maroon vehicle.

“Yeah,” Juliana answered unlocking it. “I help my friend’s grandfather sometimes on his farm, so it just made sense, I guess.”

“You work on a farm?” Eva asked, confused.

“No,” Juliana drew out the word. “I help out on a farm. I work as a visual artist for a marketing company.”

“Does Valentina know?”

“I told her I helped my friend’s grandfather sometimes, she doesn’t know the farm part yet.”

“Wow, already keeping secrets, huh?” Eva teased.

“It’s not a secret, but even if it was, it wouldn’t be the only one I’d be keeping,” Juliana answered pointedly. Eva looked at her with confusion evident in her eyes. “I won’t be telling anyone about your drunken conversation with a stuffed animal, but I guess it would serve as good blackmail, don’t you think?”

“You wouldn’t,” Eva gasped. Juliana remained silent and only raised her eyebrow in challenge. “I hate you.” 

Juliana laughed as she pulled up to Eva’s house. “Don’t worry, no one will ever find out unless you want them to. But I will tease you about it,” she promised.

Eva laughed lightly and started climbing out when she stopped and turned to look at Juliana. “I know,” she paused for a moment thinking something over. “I know it’s still too soon and you don’t need it, but you have my blessing. I think Valentina’s really lucky to have found you.” Juliana smiled softly at her and nodded. As soon as the door was closed Juliana drove off, her heart feeling lighter knowing that she’d finally made a connection with her girlfriend’s sister.

\---  
A few days later there was a bouquet waiting for her in front of her door. The note attached read ‘ _Thank You, from Mateo and Eva_ '.” in neat writing.

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked writing/creating their dynamic in this universe. I think both of them would bond over their shared protectiveness of Valentina, plus I think Eva just needs someone she can trust and let in. Valentina and Guille have each other and I think Eva and Juliana could have something close to that since Juliana is an only child and Eva had to grow up too soon.
> 
> this is the longest work I've written so far and it is one of my favorites, emotionally. let me know what you think about it. I might write more stuff with Juliana and Eva's relationship, we'll see. let me know your thoughts in the comments.
> 
> I added a little nod to the John Wick franchise, if anyone catches it.


End file.
